A Reason to Live
by Darkslayer18
Summary: A swordsman loses everything in an instant but gains a reason to live on. Swordmage and Priestess attacked by an Netherese Umbriri and his men.


A/N: Alright since I STILL can not draw anything besides swords XD I guess it's back to attempting short stories sooooo here goes...i guess

Disclaimer: I don't own Forgotten Realms or anything related to it or it's D&D setting except for my OC's who are featured here in this story.

**Reason to Live**

Dust, endless dust, that was all that seemed to stretch out before the man as he rode. His head was hung low covered in a hood that shrouded his face in shadows. His horse trudged on slowly with little prodding, his sword hanging loosely from it's saddle. Just two weeks before he would have been appalled at his lack of alertness but he was a different man than he was back then, or maybe it was the world that was different. He brought his hand up to his face and scratched at the patchy beard that was growing on his young face. He normally kept it bare but didn't see the need anymore. He was heading South towards Waterdeep; not to start a new life, but to forget the old.

~_Two weeks ago~ _

The man was readying two horses as the sun began to set on the horizon. His short brown hair was slicked with sweat; they had been riding all day. "Are you sure it's alright to stop? It's possible we're still being pursued." The man said, adjusting his sword belt.

"It is almost moon-rise. I wish to pray, and no mere bandits will prevent me." The priestess replied from where she was kneeling checking her pack. He watched her as he leaned against the horse. She wore simple breeches and a dirty blouse with a leather vest over it. Her crimson hair hung down her back and covered her face from his angle. "My hair doesn't prevent me from feeling wandering eyes, good sir." She said jokingly as she smiled towards him. If he hadn't known she had human blood in her, he'd have taken her for a full-blooded elf, she seemed to glow when ever she smiled.

"I am less concerned about the bandit's cutting short your prayers and more concerned about them cutting short your life, milady." He said, giving a mock bow. In the eight years they had traveled together he had come to know how she hated titles and protocol.

"Watch it Orius I am not above kicking a man with his head down." She said, narrowing her eyes as she stood, still more than a head shorter than him. He straightened his posture and looked down at her in mock defiance. "Don't you have a perimeter to check or something?" She huffed at him as she walked past to retrieve her water-skin from her horse.

"Right away, milady." He said, bowing and then quickly scooting away to avoid the water-skin thrown in his direction. He was used to this kind of back and forth. When they'd first began journeying together, they had been at each others' throats nearly every minute of the day.

Orius was a follower of Selune, not a devout follower mind you, but he supported her church and prayed to her for success. Amara, however, was a priestess, a powerful one at that. Had she a mind to settle down she could easily become a high priestess, though she was already given the same respect. Why she didn't want to stop traveling Orius couldn't say, by all accounts she hated roughing it in the woods.

Orius adjusted his sword-belt as he looked towards the sky where Selune was already partly visible. He was patrolling the edges of the camp, specifically the northern edge. They had been almost unable to stop for several days now due to a small pursuit. He was sure he would be fine in an engagement, but Amara currently had no spells to call on and therefore would be vulnerable. She, however, would not heed anymore warnings and would not set another foot towards their destination until she had prayed to the moon goddess. "Perhaps we can just deal with the pursuit after she replenishes her prayers..." he mused to himself before a snapping twig and a curse caused him to mentally prepare for a fight.

A few feet ahead of where Orius stood, hidden among the shadows of the trees, wer three men all dressed in black leather with wicked looking long-swords hanging from their belts. The man on the far right cursed as a twig snapped loudly under his foot and alerted their prey just a few feet before they had him. "The Lady of Loss is testing us, she wants to see if we are worthy to serve her do not disappoint her!" The man in the middle said as he signaled for the men at his sides to engage their target.

Orius was more than prepared when the two ambushers rushed from the trees long-swords in hand. He swept his own thin scimitar from its sheath at his side and parried a thrust from the taller of the two men on the right. The other came at him then, wildly, seeming less a swordsman and more a beast. The mans flurry was impressively fast and hit hard, an adept opponent would have had trouble surviving such an assault. Orius however was no adept, he snapped his left hand across the mans face as his sword was out wide and then ran him through. "If you don't wish to end up like your friend I suggest you drop your sword and leave" Orius said a he wiped his blade on the fallen mans vest.

"You bastard!"the remaining man rushed in thinking to get Orius with his head down, but that was what he wanted the man to do. Orius dove at the charging mans legs causing him to slam to the ground, hard. Orius was up with a roll instantly and rushed to the man kicking his sword from his hand.

"Who are you and why do you follow us?" Orius demanded of the man as he placed his scimitar at his throat. The man seemed surprised by the question at first but then smiled.

"The Lady of Loss demands your sacrifice" he said smiling wickedly "and we" he gestured to his fallen comrade "have played our part, you have lost dog of Selune". Orius smashed the hilt of his sword across the mans face causing blood to poor from his nose and lips.

"I will ask you again and if I don't get a straight answer I will make you wish I killed you" Orius said furiously after hearing the man speak of Shar he was in no mood for games.

"Our deaths will not help you, we never were meant to beat you only to delay you" the man grinned with his remaining teeth. Orius slit the mans throat with a vicious flick of his sword then jumped to his feet. A feeling of absolute dread was rushing through him he looked up, it still was not quite time yet Amara still would be defenseless without him. A scream, Amara's scream, made his blood run cold.

"No!" he bellowed as he rushed back towards their camp as fast as he could branches and weeds tearing at his face and clothing. He unfastened his cloak as he went as it was only slowing him down. As he broke through the brush to the clearing the sight nearly caused him to scream. Amara was laying at a third ambushers feet covered in blood, her blood. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" he yelled rushing the man with abandon forgetting all his training and focus before the rage he felt.

"Oh how good of you to join us Mr. Orius" the third man a thin dark eyed man with a shock of black hair cascading down around his shoulders. His long-sword's blade was black as coal and seemed to give off a red-ish hue at the edges. Had Orius been attentive at this moment he'd have guessed it was magical in some way, but he cared very little about anything but the man's death at this point. "Mrs. Amara and I were just discussing you!" The man said as he parried Orius first and second attack. A call from behind him brought him back to his senses.

"Orius watch out he wields magic!" came a weak cry from Amara as she tried to staunch the blood flowing from her abdomen. She was alive! Thank Selune he calmed instantly and remembered his training. Against an opponent wielding magic he would simply have to use magic of his own. Forming the symbols in his mind he called up his defensive wards that would stop all but the strongest of attacks for a short time and then began searching for an opening in the mans guard.

"Sword magic? I see no wonder I was given this task!" the man grinned wickedly as he parried another of Orius thrusts before shouting an arcane word, one Orius didn't recognize. The man vanished in an instant, Orius on instinct threw himself forward at the same time avoiding a slash that would have decapitated him. Naed! The assassin like Orius was also a swordmage.

"I didn't know Shar had swordmages among her followers" Orius said as he prepared another spell that would cause his sword to arc with lightning.

"We are few and far between but yes we do exist" the man said as he prepared a spell of his own. The two lunged together swords and spells clashing in a brilliant flash that threw both men backwards to the ground. The Sharran Swordmage rolled to his feet with more grace than Orius possessed and then stepped back sheathing his black sword. "As fun as this has been Mr. Orius I really must be going" the man said running out of the clearing. Orius began to rush towards Amara when she put up her hand to stop him.

"Do not let a man" she began coughing "like that escape" she looked at him pleadingly he could tell she was badly hurt and wouldn't last much longer.

"I won't be long you stay put!" he rushed off after the Sharran swordmage intent on seeing the man who'd hurt his Amara die painfully. He began to make progress as he ran through the forest in pursuit, the Sharran swordmage not having as much experience running through the thick brush.

"Should you really be following me? Lady Amara won't last much longer, beautiful Lady Amara!" the wicked man called back tauntingly trying to hurt Orius resolve, the bad thing was it was working.

"I am going to catch you and then I am going to kill you just like your two lackeys!" Orius snarled after him as he finally came upon the man tackling him clear of the trees out onto a cliff.

"My lackeys? Yes I rather like the sound of that" the man said grinning as he regained his feet and drew his black blade. "I imagine after my success tonight in murdering a favored priestess of Selune I will have many more of them. How does it feel I wonder to fail so miserably?" the man lunged whispering a spell that caused his blade to leak shadows.

"You tell me! Amara isn't dead yet!" Orius countered as much for himself as it was to deflate his enemies ego, he needed to believe she was alright, she was everything to him. Their swords crashed together again and again neither swordsman willing to give ground. Orius was tiring though after being engaged in combat and running almost nonstop for the past twenty minutes he was running out of steam. He needed to end this duel quickly. He quickly called up one of his favorite spells, one that would give him inhuman strength for a few moments. Their swords clashed three then four more times as Orius waited for his chance the instance his opponent faked a parry he pretended to fall for it. As the dark swordmages blade cut in Orius released his spell, and batted the blade away and from his opponents hand overdoing it and sending his own blade along. He didn't hesitate while the spell still lasted, he rushed the man and gripped him by his shirt lifting him above his head and with all his magical strength launched the man over the edge of the cliff into the open air. "So hows it feel?" he breathed quickly before the man disappeared from view with a yell.

Orius rushed back to camp sheathing his retrieved blade as he went. He prayed to every god and devil he could think of that Amara would still be ok. When he reached the clearing an eerie silence pervaded the air. Amara was laying right where he'd left her on her back hands folded across her stomach. No more blood flowed from her wound. His approach to her was the hardest thing he had ever done every step draining him more and more as he neared. He collapsed next to her and his resolved crumbled and for the first time since he'd met her he cried. She was gone, he had failed.

_~Present~_

Why did he keep on living? Why did he keep on walking? He couldn't figure it out but neither could he stop. The swordmage clutched at Amara's holy symbol that he'd kept, he couldn't bring himself to leave it with her grave, it had been important to her and it made him feel that she was still close. He'd never gotten the chance to tell her how he really felt about her and now he never would. He'd failed to do the one thing he promised her he would do "_I will protect you with my very life from now on"_. He'd said that when she brought him back from the brink. After being ambushed on the side of the road he'd been left for dead and was beginning to fade when a luminous figure stood before him. At the time he had been sure he was dead and Selune had come to collect his soul. But he soon felt strength and warmth return to his battered body and his breathing came easier. She'd saved his life without even knowing him and he'd failed to save hers. He knew she'd never blame him that wasn't her way, but that didn't make him feel any better if anything he felt worse.

The day dragged on he was making little progress and was almost out of food but cared little. Nothing not the birds chirping nor the wind blowing could pull him from his pit of self pity and loathing. Nothing that is except the ring of steel on steel and a womens scream. At first he thought he was reliving that night while awake as had happened every night since that day. But he heard more screams, screams of the dieing.

Orius spurred his horse to the crest of the hill, his eyes went wide at what he saw a caravan that had passed him earlier was under attack. He was instantly filled with a rage reminiscent of that night two weeks ago. These people had offered him food and company to travel with them and though he'd turned down the offer he had been extremely grateful. Whoever it was that was attacking the caravan would regret it while they met with Kelemvor!

He rode full tilt down into the fray taking the first attackers head off as he passed. Something caught his eye though these men were dressed in the same black leather armor as the man who killed Amara. These men were worshipers of Shar he'd send their twice damned black souls to their lady of loss soon enough. Just as soon as he'd had his fill of vengeance. He jumped down from his horse, and began approaching the fray.

"You should have minded your own business stranger!" one of the Sharran brigands shouted as he clumsily swung an axe in a horizontal arc. Orius didn't even slow as he ducked under it and gutted the man as he passed. Two more men wielding spears lunged at him, he called upon his spell of strength again and slashed once twice and then three times turning their wooden spears into tooth picks before taking their stunned heads from their shoulders. These men were small fry he was headed to where he knew the leader would be. In the back, safe. Or so they foolishly thought no where was safe for a follower of Shar not as long as Orius still breathed.

"Stop him! He must not reach master Darkhand!" another fool yelled as he jumped in towards Orius, only to have his lunge parried and then his head removed with a backhanded slash as the swordmage strode past. Darkhand whoever that was he would not get off as easily as his lackeys. Orius Charged the next two swordsmen in a flurry calling up his magical wards. These two were slightly better than the others they had obviously worked together before and had they lived long enough could have been a fierce-sum tandem, unfortunately they had made the mistake of worshiping Shar and then meeting Orius on the field. He pretended to parry the man on the right but then ducked quickly under his sword and slashed deeply into the mans left leg as he spun around behind him. The man on the left came around from the other way and went to run Orius through but he spun the wounded man around and used him as a shield. The second man stared in horror as he realized he'd just impaled his comrade but he didn't think on it for more than two breaths before his own head fell from his shoulders.

"We really must stop meeting like this my friend" came a voice from behind Orius who turned around eyes bulging in his head. It was him, the very man who'd slain Amara he was Darkhand! "So how does it feel to fail?" the wicked man lunged forward wielding his black long-sword he had apparently retrieved. Orius side-stepped the attack and slashed at his opponents open flank but his sword met a wall of invisible force. "I am a swordmage too remember?" the man whispered the spell that caused his blade to leak shadows as Orius finished his own spell to cause his blade to arc with lightning. "How does it feel to fail again! You won't save these people, they will die just like your precious Amara! Oh how she called for you as she lay dieing at my feet" Orius didn't hear his taunts though, he was in a dark place death was the only thing on his mind. Their blades clashed with thunderous sound as the two spell enhanced blades repelled one another.

"I will kill you!" Orius spat as he fired off his own spell of teleportation. As he appeared behind the Sharran swordmage he brought his sword in a two handed chop that would have cleaved a man in half but his opponent faded to nothing but shadow.

"Do you really think an umbriri of Shar would fall before a weak dog of Selune?" came a voice from behind Orius. He had no time to react as a blade bit into him and through to the other side. He was impaled on the dark swordmages sword. Darkhand retracted his sword and Orius fell coughing to the ground groping at the wound. It was through his kidney, he was dieing. "So tell me, finally, how does it feel to fail?" the Umbriri walked away laughing presumably to find another victim.

How? How could I have failed again? That was all that was going through his mind, tears once again fell not for himself but for his Amara and the people of the caravan he'd failed to protect. Then his eyes landed on something. Amara's holy symbol, she always said that it was like a part of her after using it for so long. He pulled it in close and held it to his chest as he tried not to drown in his self pity. He would hold true to what he believed at the end. If this was to be his end then he would not meet it with fear and regret. He was a swordmage a warrior and servant of Selune, he'd not show weakness in death at the hands of a Sharran agent.

His resolve triggered something then like something opened within himself that had been closed for a long time. His passion and defiance that he'd gone without these past weeks was back, he wanted to live. Suddenly he felt the warmth and strength returning to him. Amara's holy symbol was glowing brightly. It was like that day so long ago when he'd met Amara all over again. She'd used the last of her life to place a blessing of healing upon her holy symbol knowing he'd carry it with her. Even at the end she was only thinking of him and here he was feeling sorry for himself. Amara was always thinking of him. He would not waste the life he'd been given nor regret what had passed, and he would see Amara again. But for now that would have to wait, there was work to be done.

He rose shakily to his feet his eyes fixed on Darkhand's back. "I won't fail again!" he shouted as he lifted his sword the same instant Darkhand whipped around curses on his lips. Orius barked his spell of teleportation and was upon Darkhand in the same instant the umbriri began to fade to shadow but Orius blade reached him before it was complete and Darkhand howled in pain as his eye was cleaved from his skull. The umbriri appeared two strides from Orius hand over his left eye as blood poured from between his fingers. For the first time his face showed something besides that wicked smile. It was pain and anger. Orius responded with only a blank stare and prepared his sword to strike his left hand clutching Amara's holy symbol.

"You have accomplished nothing! The Lady of Loss shall consume you and the soul of your precious Amara as well as everyone from this caravan!" the Sharran killer cried angrily as he faded to shadow once again. Orius Turned back towards the caravan and saw that the fighting was over the attackers were fleeing along with Darkhand. He thought about following the umbriri at first but then thought better against it there may be someone still alive he could save.

He searched the wreckage of the caravan for twenty minutes not a soul was left alive. He was just beginning to berate himself for failing them when he heard a cry. The cry of a young child off to his right, he rushed over to a woman who had been cut down shielding the child. He pushed the woman, the child's mother he guessed, away and found the child covered in his mothers blood crying hysterically. It was a sad sight, but some how it rekindled something in Orius that he had not felt since he'd lost Amara. It was hope, he'd saved this boy from a gruesome death and now all the possibilities the boy might have were laid before Orius. This, he thought, must be how a parent feels.

_~4 years later~_

A man wrapped in a long cloak walked with purpose into the gates of Waterdeep despite the rain that would have caused most to jump into the nearest tavern he did not stop. He walked with a purpose of a man who knew exactly where he was going and what he was going to do when he got there. He turned down many streets his shaggy brown hair and beard now thoroughly soaked and beaded with water he stopped in-front of his destination. He clutched the symbol of Selune he kept with him always it didn't symbolize his faith to the goddess of the moon as it would for a priest or priestess. To him it was his hope and his faith in himself.

He entered the temple and gave his soaked cloak to the first attendant who approached he was well known and respected as a follower of Selune even if he wasn't a priest he was believed to be blessed by the moon goddess. "How was your trip master Orius?" the attendant asked politely.

"Later I have important business to attend to first" Orius said with a smirk on his face and strode right past the guards standing in-front of where the clergy ate their meals without stopping. Everyone knew why he was there it was the only reason he ever came back most thought, and they were probably right. He scanned the long dining table before his gaze rested on the one he was looking for. He smiled at the sight. A young boy with curly brown hair was waving a spoon around in the air, while two clergy members tried to get him to calm down. Orius called to the boy who froze and whipped his head to the side smiling before running full tilt into the tall swordmages arms.

"What took you so long? You said only four days!" the young boy whined as he hugged the man tightly.

"I know, I know but I was attacked by monsters on the road I had to defeat them before I could come home" he said smiling as the boys eyes went wide. Stories of his adventures always amazed the boy though he did admit he stretched the truth just a bit. When he said monsters he really meant two men and a gnoll trying to rob him.

"Don't leave for so long next time" the young boy said burying his head into the man's chest. The boy nearly five years old now was extremely attached to his adoptive father. Orius hated leaving the boy but he couldn't very well take him with him. He also wished he could stop going off on adventures in the world, but he felt it was his duty to try and make the world safer for when it was his sons turn. And he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the sense of adventure.

"Fine I promise not so long next time" Orius smiled and picked the boy up and returned him to the table and began retelling his most recent adventure to the boy. With generous alterations of course. This boy who he would give the world to that was his hope that was why he lived. His son.


End file.
